Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician who currently serves as the senior United States Senator from Maine. A member of the Republican Party, Collins has served in the Senate since 1997, and has served as the ranking member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging in and previously as the Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security from 2003 to 2007.Born in Caribou, Maine, Collins is a graduate of St. Lawrence University. Beginning her career as a staff assistant for Senator William Cohen in 1975, Collins later became the staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security in 1981. She was then appointed as the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation by Governor John R. McKernan, Jr. in 1987. In 1992 she was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as the director of the Small Business Administration's regional office in Boston. Staying in Massachusetts, Collins became that state's Deputy State Treasurer in 1993. After moving back to Maine in 1994, Collins became the Republican nominee for Governor in the 1994 general election. Becoming the first woman to become the nominee of a major party for Governor of Maine, Collins finished third in a four way race with 23% of the vote. After her bid for Governor, in 1994, Collins became the founding director of the Center for Family Business at Husson University.Collins was first elected to the Senate in 1996. She has since been re-elected to two more terms in the senate, in 2002 and 2008. She is running for re-election in 2014.